Jeffrey Bue

I can guarantee you that the structural engineers are very concerned about them. 3-D printed structural parts will have to go through the same rigorous validation testing as other materials/processes before they'll ever be certified for flight. 3-D printed metal parts are essentially "castings", minus the mold, and will most likely be treated as such by the structures folks.

That was a very good "read". I love automation but it needs to be implemented just as the article suggests. Same with automobiles. I think we will see a lot of automation but I'm not sure we'll EVER embrace totally autonomous "driverless" cars. I could be wrong but there's just too much liability with that level of automation in my opinion.

It would be greatness if this ever comes to fruition. I grew up in the 60's and remember when Congress cancelled funding for the Boeing SST. I was pretty bummed about it as a kid. I believe that materials technology and tech in general has progressed to the point where this is actually viable. Having endured many many international flights of 12-16 hours, cutting travel times by half, third or even a quarter would be a God-send.